If I Hadn't Met You
by Halley the Comet
Summary: Ted buys a new watch off eBay. The gang aren't very impressed. That is, until the watch reverses and takes the gang into a parallel world where Barney and Robin never meet Lily, Ted or Marshall.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys. So I've just randomly come up with this idea when I was watching TV, and I couldn't get it out of my head. It's a lot more fantasy-mystery than all my other fanfictions, so remember, I did warn you! **

* * *

I opened the door to my apartment and stepped in, walking around while eyeing my (awesome) stormtrooper.

The others were supposed to come over soon. It was one of those rare times when we would all be together since Lily had Marvin. Not that I was complaining. I would teach the kid up to be _awesome_, of course.

I'm Barney Stinson, the _creator _of awesome.

* * *

Ted, Lily, Marshall and Robin all came at once (Marvin was with Mickey). Ted _really_ needs to find someone, I can tell you that. He's been turning to shopping as a way to fill in the need for a woman. Sometimes I worry about him.

'I don't see what's so funny, guys,' he said, sounding offended when we all started to laugh. It was good to laugh at Ted; like old times. 'You can get some pretty good stuff on there, you know.'

'Ted, not to be patronizing,' Robin told him (sounding patronizing) 'but most of the stuff on eBay is a pile of junk that's sold off as 'slightly used'.'

Ted looked so offended that Marshall started to laugh. 'Dude, come on. You're obviously just going on it to have something to do.'

'Speaking of things to do –' I started to say, but they both ignored me. Lily shook her head at me. _Well_. You'd have thought they'd be a bit more interested. Especially now I was dating Patrice.

Oh, yeah. Patrice. I was dating her. Patrice, Robin's arch-enemy. Well…I hadn't exactly told them properly yet. I'd casually slipped it in that I was dating someone but I left the other details out.

'And look what I got,' Ted started to say, lifting his wrist in the air to show off his new watch. I leant forwards to look at it. It was actually a pretty good watch. Brown straps, with a little gold clock in the middle. But something – I couldn't tell – looked wrong. I didn't know why. I couldn't see any scratches.

I wondered how much Ted had paid for it.

'Ten bucks!' Ted, reading my mind, exclaimed. 'Can you believe that? Awesome, right?'

I frowned when I realised what was wrong. 'But Ted –' I said hopelessly. Was it just me who could see it? Why hadn't anyone else seen it?

Ted wasn't listening. 'You know, it's not all bad,' he said. 'It just depends on which parts you look in…'

'Ted!' I snapped, craning forward to see the watch that he had bought. 'Ted – your watch. It's _reversed_!'

'What?' Ted looked confused. 'What do you mean?'

'Your watch – look. It's…it's ticking _backwards_!'

Ted held his wrist and started at the watch. He slid the strap off his wrist and held it up in his hand. Then he held it up to the bulb, as if it might have been a trick of the light.

Lily raised her eyebrow. 'Looks like you got a broken watch, Ted,' she said. 'Nice work.'

'No –' Ted said, sounding surprised. 'It – it wasn't doing that before.'

'Maybe it's one of those joke watches,' Marshall suggested, taking the watch from Ted and examining it closely. 'You know, like you give to kids when you're playing a joke on them.'

Robin laughed.

'Great,' Ted said, sounding annoyed, 'the first thing I buy and it doesn't even work properly.'

'Well, we did warn you,' Robin said helpfully.

Ted sighed and took the watch from Marshall, fiddling with it. 'Maybe there's some way to get it to work again…?'

I swear I saw a crack of electricity in the air, before everything suddenly went bright, like someone was flashing a torch directly into my eyes. I remember jumping up from the couch, panicking, while Lily, Ted, Marshall and Robin all screamed. Strangely I wasn't screaming myself. Maybe it was just that everything happened so fast, I didn't really have time to react apart from when I jumped up off the sofa. My first thought was that my light had somehow gone crazy, but when I looked up I could see that the light on the ceiling was fine.

But something was happening. It felt like the floor was tipping out from underneath me, almost as if I was drunk, even though I hadn't been to the bar all day. I could faintly hear the others, all gasping and hissing, wondering what was going on, but everything happened in such a rush I didn't even have time to think. My feet slipped from beneath me, like I was falling through the floor.

* * *

Then everything went black.


	2. Chapter 2

**I think I've typed this up at least three times because it always sounded too weird and ridiculous. But I think this chapter is a better improvement to the one I was going to post earlier.**

**Enjoy! (Hopefully)**

* * *

It took me a minute or two to get used to the sudden light. It wasn't even that bright; a dim yellow light above my head. The dizzy feeling had gone, but it left me confused, and slightly alarmed.

Where the hell was I?

I squinted, multicolored blobs still dancing in my vision. It took me a few minutes of squeezing my eyes shut and opening them again quickly to realise where I was.

I was in MacLaren's.

How did I end up here?

Wasn't I just sitting in my living room a few minutes ago?

I glanced around the bar, still slightly shocked. Then I saw the freakiest thing – Ted, Marshall and Lily, all sitting in the booth drinking.

Hadn't they been with me?

I walked over to them, opened-mouthed. Lily's hair looked different. Marshall wasn't wearing a suit. Ted still mostly looked the same though. But they all looked weirdly… _younger_.

'Uh…guys?' I stammered. 'Am I drunk or something?'

They didn't even look up.

And then I saw something even weirder – I saw _myself_ walk out of the bathroom, past the others and over to a woman! I nearly fainted – just standing, gawping as I watched myself talk to the woman. I was so shocked I almost laughed. I just stood there as I saw myself say something to the woman, which made her laugh.

'What…wha...?' I gasped.

I looked over to Ted, Lily and Marshall for help, but they didn't even see me. I walked over shakily, waving my hand in Ted's face. Usually he would have grumbled at me but now it was like I was invisible.

'You should totally ask her out,' Marshall was saying.

'No! I mean, what would I even say?' Ted told him. 'Hi, I've seen you on the news, I was wondering if you would like to go have dinner with me?'

I looked over to see who he was looking at. My gaze locked onto a woman who was wearing a green jumper. Her long brown hair rested neatly on her shoulders. She was talking to someone. I think she noticed Ted looking at her because she smiled. Ted, being Ted, glanced down.

It was like when Ted had first met Robin.

Of course! I suddenly got it. I was imagining seeing myself because it was a joke they had planned, like a flashback to when Ted met Robin. I laughed in relief. 'Okay, guys,' I said to them. They still didn't look up. 'Funny joke. Getting me to think I was going crazy, huh?' I grinned and gave Marshall a punch on the shoulder. He acted like he hadn't noticed.

I waited for them to all start laughing. It was a joke, yes, it was all a joke.

Right?

I watched Ted stand up and walk over to Robin. She looked up expectantly.

Ted walked past her and ordered a drink.

Why wasn't he talking to her?

No, I realised – Ted hadn't talked to her. _I_ had.

* * *

I sat on the sidewalk outside. I was beginning to realise the facts – I was either going insane, or I was dead. But how could I be dead? Just a short while ago I had been sitting in my apartment with Ted, Marshall, Lily and Robin, laughing at Ted's defence against online shopping.

It suddenly hit me. The watch. The clock. It had something to do with the watch. It was the only possible explanation (that and the possibility that I was dead or crazy). I needed to get that watch from Ted. But where was he? And where were Lily and Marshall and Robin? The real ones, I mean.

Maybe they had gone forever.

No. Don't think about that.

Think about…how you're going to get back.

Back where? I was in New York. I had been in MacLaren's before. I knew where my apartment was. But somehow it was messed up. Time seemed to be messed up…almost as if I had gone back in time almost eight years ago.

That's crazy! I laughed to myself. As if you could go back in time. You're going mad, Stinson. You're just drunk and having a crazy dream, that's all.

I knew I was kidding myself.

* * *

I found them a while later, all together.

'Oh my god! Barney!' Lily ran over to me and hugged me. Robin did the same. It was such a relief to see them all, to know that I wasn't alone in this mess. Lily was talking in a rush, filling me in on what happened.

'Barney, something really weird is going on. I don't know what it is. Me and Marshall were looking for you and Robin and Ted all over the place. I found them both but we didn't know where you were…something's happened...'

'Lil, Lil.' I held my hand up. 'I think I know what's going on.' I sat back down on my chair while they all stared at me. 'It was the watch – it reversed. We're still in New York, obviously, but somehow…not in the same time.'

Marshall looked worried. 'Dude… what are you on about?'

'I mean…' I closed my eyes, not even having the energy to explain what I had just seen in MacLaren's. 'I mean…we've been taken back in time. But something changed. I never met Ted. And Ted never spoke to Robin. We're in a time where Robin and I never met you all.'

* * *

We seemed to move at different times. Now that we had all found each other again, we seemed to stay together whenever we moved. We could see this bright white light, at different times, and then we would just seem to tip and then it would go dark. Then we look again and we were at different places.

In 2006 Lily and Marshall had broken up. Lily looked guilty when she watched herself walk out of the door. Marshall obviously didn't like re-watching their break-up again, but he pulled Lily close.

What was different, as we were pulled further in time, was that Lily and Marshall didn't get back together. And they both looked miserable without each other.

It was weird how this time-travelling thing worked. We would stop in certain places of each of our lives – Ted when he was dating someone new, Lily and Marshall's breakup, me hitting on another chick – and then we would swap and change again.

* * *

There was one time that I couldn't forget.

* * *

It was in February, 2005. We were all watching me (the other me) go out on a date with someone.

The woman's name was Lucy, and while we talked I learnt that she was a hairdresser. She had very light brown hair herself, almost blonde, with very pale skin and brown-green eyes. I had just started dating her and when we changed again, we were still dating.

But something happened.

* * *

We moved towards April. She came to my apartment one night. I let her in with a kiss, pulling her inside. Ted, standing beside me, looked envious. I grinned at him. He was totally jealous, I could tell.

I watched myself sit her on the couch. Lucy didn't smile, exactly…well, she sort of did, but it was one of those worried ones that when you see you start to feel worried too.

Actually, you know what? To avoid confusion, I'll just call my other self 'Barney' so you don't get mixed up.

So, anyway...

* * *

Barney handed her a drink, sitting down beside her.

'What's up?' he asked.

'You just asked that so you could get laid, didn't you?' Lily said accusingly. I shrugged and smiled.

I watched them closely as Lucy tightened her grip on the glass. She looked really worried. I was beginning to feel worried too. What was going on? Why was she so worried?

Lucy put down the drink.

'I'm pregnant,' she said.


End file.
